


A chance meeting

by kaijuborn



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Minor Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaijuborn/pseuds/kaijuborn
Summary: Lúcio, Genji and Reinhardt travel to Eichenwalde to retrieve Balderich von Adler's armor, but they happen to come across another relic from the omnic crisis as well.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, it's been so long since I uploaded something! Sorry about that. I haven't felt very inspired to write, and I haven't felt very confident in my writing. Hopefully that's turning around now :> I wanted to write a short gen fic, because those are easier for me to write than longer slash fics. Enjoy!

Lúcio wasn’t quite sure how he felt about Eichenwalde. The town was beautiful, with its old architecture and gorgeous view, but everywhere he looked were signs of the battle which had taken place there many years ago. Walls had crumbled and were covered with vines and moss, broken omnics and omnic parts lay scattered across the roads and plenty of roofs had caved in. Shattered glass crunched underneath his feet as he made his way through the war torn streets.

 

Reinhardt was quiet as well. He had told them of his master, who had been born there, and who later died there. Lúcio wasn’t surprised Reinhardt seemed more restrained than usual, but it felt odd seeing him like that. He was usually loud and cheerful, and seeing the opposite just felt wrong.

 

Walking in front of them was Genji, who seemed less affected by their surroundings, even though it was difficult to tell because of his mask. But at least he spoke every now and again, pointing out things of interest like the remains of more advanced omnics, street signs in German which he could just about read, and various birds and flowers. It seemed to Lúcio that he was trying to lighten the mood somewhat, and since Genji knew Reinhardt from before the fall, Lúcio assumed it was best to let him go on.

 

They were there to gather Balderich von Adler’s armor. It had been Soldier: 76’s idea from the beginning, and while Angela had tried to quiet him, Reinhardt had agreed that it was for the best if the armor was kept safely with Overwatch. With Talon trying to steal the Doomfist, it was only safe to assume that they would attempt to gather more artifacts from around the omnic crisis, and Balderich’s armor was one of those.

 

The three of them were the only ones who had traveled to Germany to retrieve the armor, as everyone had agreed it was best to keep the operation small. Reinhardt was the first one to volunteer, Genji went because he was small and fast, unlike Reinhardt who was big and slow. And Lúcio was their resident medic, as Angela needed to stay on the Watchpoint.

 

Lúcio fell back as he let the other two go ahead. His plan had been to let Reinhardt walk into the castle alone to let him have a moment with his fallen master, but Genji seemed intent on coming with him. Lúcio didn’t want to impose, so he hung back while the other two headed through the giant gates. There was a battering ram nearby, one which had clearly been used to break open the gates.

 

It was a sunny day, and the view from the bridge leading up to the main gates was spectacular. They were surrounded by miles and miles of forests, rivers and mountains, and the air was clearer than anything Lúcio had experienced before.

 

While waiting for Reinhardt and Genji, Lúcio meandered around a little, careful not to stray too far away. He looked around at the omnics and the flora which had spread out across them. Rounding a corner, he almost walked right into an omnic.

 

It gave a startled beep and raised its gun.

 

“Whoa, whoa!” Lúcio raised his hands and immediately backed off, eyes wide with shock. He stared at the omnic, which appeared to stare right back at him. 

 

It was one of the old E54 units, just like all the other ones scattered across Eichenwalde, only this one was active. It was overgrown like the others, covered with moss and flowers, and it seemed to be a bit rusted in places, but it’s optical lens was glowing blue.

 

For a moment, they both stood still and watched each other. Lúcio’s heart was pounding; he wasn’t carrying any weapons and the omnic was pointing its gun right at him.

 

The omnic made an inquisitive noise, tilting its head to one side. Lúcio couldn’t help but notice it had a bird’s nest on one of its shoulders, which would have been cute if he hadn’t been afraid.

 

“Hey there”, Lúcio said, keeping his voice gentle and low. “Sorry if I startled you.” He couldn’t tell if the E54 could understand him or not. All newer omnics had advanced voice and word processing programs, but he didn’t know if the older ones did. Still, talking was just about the only option he had. “I’m gonna back away now. Leave you alone.”

 

Lúcio gestured a little with his hands and started slowly backing off. The omnic made a little noise and took a step forward, following him, but it didn’t seem aggressive. Lúcio took a deep breath. He had turned off his communicator to give Reinhardt some privacy, which meant he couldn’t contact the other two.

 

“Please just stay there”, Lúcio begged, waving his hands a little again. “Please let me leave.”

 

The E54 lowered its gun and instead raised its other arm, which was fashioned with a robotic hand at the end. It waved toward Lúcio, making a happy little noise.

 

Lúcio stared for a moment, and then waved back. The omnic sounded even happier and waved again. Lúcio couldn’t help but let out a breathless laugh. He slowly lowered his hands.

 

“You’re a nice one, aren’t you?” he wondered. 

 

The omnic beeped again. Then it suddenly let out a much louder boop, which made Lúcio jump. A fluttering made him look up, and a moment later a yellow bird had landed on the omnic’s shoulder, next to the nest. It placed a twig among the others and then looked at Lúcio with the same sort of curiosity the E54 had.

 

“Aw, you’ve got a little friend.”

 

Making a beep-boop noise, the omnic held out its hand toward Lúcio.

 

“Uhm…” he hummed. 

 

Lúcio experimentally held out his hand as well, and the omnic seemed pleased. It placed something small in Lúcio’s hand, and when it pulled back Lúcio saw that it was some twigs. The bird chirped and flew down to land on his palm, picking up the twigs and then flying back up to its nest. Lúcio couldn’t help but grin, surprised but pleased.

 

“Lúcio?” Genji’s voice said somewhere around the corner. The E54 stiffened a little, obviously alert, but Lúcio held up his hands and caught the omnic’s attention. 

 

“Hey, it’s okay. He’s with me.”

 

Lúcio took a few steps back and looked around the corner, spotting Genji heading towards him.

 

“Ah, there you are”, Genji said. 

 

“You are not going to believe what I found”, Lúcio said, smiling. “Come here. But move slowly, and don’t make any loud noises.”

 

“Is it an animal?” Genji wondered. He walked over and rounded the corner, which made the omnic jump slightly. “… Oh.”

 

“It’s one of the old E54 units. The ones that fought here during the omnic crisis”, Lúcio said. “It must’ve lain dormant here for years. It’s just as overgrown as the others. I wonder what woke it up.”

 

“It’s not aggressive?”

 

Lúcio shook his head.

 

“It doesn’t seem like –“

 

“Reinhardt won’t like this”, Genji interrupted. Lúcio’s smile faded. “I’m sorry, but he won’t.”

 

“No, I know”, Lúcio agreed. He sighed, looking over at the omnic. It tilted its head toward one side and let out an inquisitive beep. “But… what should we do? We can’t just leave it here.”

 

Genji hummed a little.

 

“We should destroy it.”

 

“Dude!” Lúcio said, giving Genji an incredulous look. Fortunately, the omnic didn’t appear to understand. It was busy watching the bird carefully building its nest. “We can’t destroy it. It’s been illegal to destroy omnics ever since the crisis ended.”

 

“Not in Japan.”

 

“We’re not _in_ Japan”, Lúcio replied. He was about to continue when he heard heavy footsteps approaching. “Shit, it’s Rein. Uhm. You stay here. I’ll tell him.”

 

“You want me to stay with the –?”

 

Lúcio didn’t let Genji finish. Instead, he pushed past him and hurried around the corner. Reinhardt had packed up the armor in a big bag which he had slung over his shoulder. His shoulders were drooping and his eyes were weary. The sight tore at Lúcio’s heart.

 

“Hey, man”, he said, standing in front of Reinhardt, making him stop. “You okay?”

 

“Yes. We should leave before we attract any unwanted attention”, Reinhardt said, his tone more dull than usual. 

 

“Yeah. Um. We found something. Actually, I found something”, Lúcio admitted. “And you’re not gonna like it.” He could see Reinhardt’s brow furrow in confusion. “It’s an omnic. An E54 from the crisis.”

 

“There are hundreds of those scattered across the city.”

 

“Yeah, but… this one is still active”, Lúcio said. He watched Reinhardt’s expression go from confusion to understanding. “Now, I know you –“

 

“Let me see it”, Reinhardt demanded.

 

“Okay, but –”

 

Lúcio didn’t have time to finish before Reinhardt walked past him and around the corner. Lúcio hurried to follow him, but stopped at the sight that met them.

 

The omnic had sat down on the ground, a bit awkwardly as its anatomy clearly wasn’t built for it, and Genji had sat down next to it. Genji was holding one hand close to his face, and on one of his fingers sat the yellow bird. It chirped and occasionally pecked at Genji’s visor, which made him chuckle. Genji looked up when Lúcio and Reinhardt appeared.

 

“Oh. Sorry. It –“ The bird pecked at him again. “It seems to like the light from my visor.”

 

Lúcio looked up at Reinhardt, cautiously awaiting his reaction. For a long moment, Reinhardt simply watched the omnic with a motionless expression.

 

Finally, he let out a breath.

 

“Very well. What shall we do with it?”

 

The omnic booped and looked up at Reinhardt, tilting its head to one side.

 

“Genji thinks we should destroy it”, Lúcio said, crossing his arms.

 

“I don’t think – I mean, it was just a suggestion”, Genji said, looking up at Lúcio and Reinhardt. He lowered his hand and the bird flew back to the E54. “… Either way, we can’t just leave it here.”

 

“You’re right”, Reinhardt said. Lúcio felt his heart sink into his stomach. “It would be irresponsible to leave it here. But… destroying it wouldn’t be right either.” Both Lúcio and Genji looked up at him, surprised. Reinhardt sighed and looked away for a moment. “… What would Adler do?” he asked, quietly, seemingly mostly talking to himself. He looked back at the omnic. “I doubt this omnic has the computing capacity to fully understand what it has done in the past. It was just following orders.”

 

“So…?” Lúcio wondered, hopeful again. 

 

“We cannot leave it here”, Reinhardt said, “so we’ll take it back to the Watchpoint. We can decide what to do with it together with the rest of the team. If nothing else, perhaps its logs can tell us something about its experiences during the crisis.”

 

“So we’re keeping it?” Lúcio grinned. Genji stood up and crossed his arms, cocking his head to one side. 

 

“I suppose it’s for the best”, he said. It was easy to mistake his body language as him being critical, but Lúcio could hear that he was actually pleased. 

 

“Yes. Now come, let’s see if we can lure it back to the jet.” Reinhardt hoisted up the bag a bit and then started walking, keeping a watchful eye on the E54. 

 

“Come here, buddy”, Lúcio said, smiling and waving at the omnic. It awkwardly got up to its feet and began to cautiously follow him. “Yeah, that’s right. C’mon.”

 

“It’s not a dog.” Genji sounded amused. 

 

“No”, Reinhardt agreed. “It is a war veteran, like myself. We have both outlived our purposes long ago. And yet… perhaps there is still use for us.”

 

“You are the last crusader”, Genji said, more serious now. “And the E54 is the last of the omnics’ defense.”

 

“The last bastion”, Lúcio suggested. The E54 was willingly following him now, seemingly curious about where they were headed. The yellow bird flew in circles above their heads. Lúcio hoped they could bring it along with them as well. “… That could be a good name for it.”

 

“Bastion?”

 

“Yeah. It’s better than E54 at least.” Lúcio turned to look at the omnic. “What do you think? Bastion?”

 

Even though Lúcio was fairly sure the omnic didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, it still made a happy little sound and waved at him again. Lúcio smiled and he could hear Genji chuckle, and he was pretty sure he saw a hint of a smile on Reinhardt’s lips as well.

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on tumblr for updates and stuff!
> 
> http://kaijuborn.tumblr.com/


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